Hearken (Daughters of the Sea Series) (24 page)

             
“Fengári tou aímatos af̱xánetai.”

             
“Fengári tou aímatos af̱xánetai.”

             
I leaned my head back, allowing my hair to swing in the breeze and closed my eyes. The moonlight showered down on me and cleansed me of all weakness, all doubt, all vulnerability. I didn’t need distractions. I only needed the power running through my veins and the light charging my essence from above. I knew it was up to me to ensure nothing stood in my way.

             
“Stasia!”

             
I swung around in rage. Who would
dare
interrupt me now? They emerged from the trees with little fortitude; huddled in a group and staring as if they were frightened of me. Their undeniable weakness oozed from their pores and their essences smelled of uncertainty. A sharp slice of annoyance shot through me as I surveyed them. Were they so pathetic they couldn’t spend one night without me? Could they not function without their leader to spell out everything for them? And now they’d tracked me down. Ready to hold me down with their needs, emotional baggage and expectations. 

             
“What do you want?” I yelled at them. “Can’t you see I’m busy?!”

             
“Stasia, come away from the cliff,” one of them pleaded with me. I laughed and stepped closer to the edge.

             
“Aw, are you scared I’m going to fall?” I mocked her with a chuckle. “What are you going to do? Stop me from jumping?” I narrowed my eyes and felt my essence flare. “If I wanted to throw myself off this cliff, not you or an entire army could stop me!”

             
“Please don’t-” she began, but another of the group quieted her with a look. 

             
“What’s happened to you?” She stepped towards me as she spoke; her dark hair blowing in the wind. I seemed to sense more strength from within her than the others, but she was still covered with the chains of mortality. “Why are you-”

             
Tired of dealing with them, I flicked my wrist haphazardly and with an explosion of light, they collapsed onto the ground. Except for one. He strode out of the tree with purpose. His light eyes hardened and his jaw tightened with determination as he walked toward me confidently. I smiled sweetly at him.

             
“Congratulations,” I taunted him. “You can deflect my energy.”

             
“I can do more than that,” he threatened in a voice that rumbled through my soul. His eyes flashed menacingly as a wave of boiling white energy shot out of him and slammed into my chest with the force of a train. My feet left the ground and I felt the grip of gravity pulling me down. The crevice walls flashed by me as I fell into the depths of the island’s core. The darkening moon above watched me silently while I fell farther and farther into nothingness. The energy it had gifted me was suddenly stolen away; leaving me with an emptiness that consumed my consciousness. As the voice in my head began to chant once more, I closed my eyes and waited.

Chapter 23

Finn

             
I resurfaced and my eyes swept the massive cliff towering over the raging river I now found myself in. Having never been to Atlantis I wasn’t sure where I was, but I knew water was the quickest and easiest way for me to travel. The moon shining down from above fell into the still fuzzy puzzle of the vision I’d had mere hours earlier. Mom was able to get me to the waters around the island, but it had been up to me to gain admittance and find Stasia. Thankfully it hadn’t occurred to the residents of Atlantis to continue the shield. I was able to easily dive below the shield barrier and find a current that lead into the island. 

             
It led me through a daunting maze of caverns, which eventually narrowed into one of the rivers feeding the inner recesses of the island itself. With only the sparse images I’d seen in my vision I was definitely ill-equipped, but there was one important tool I had going for me. Our bond. Her essence was surprisingly easy to sense amidst the muddy, earthly energy radiating from Atlantis. Or maybe I was so attuned to her, my mind had perfected the task of seeking her out. I only hoped I wasn’t too late.

             
I fought to reach her with my thoughts again and again, but continued to hit a road block every time. It was as if she’d secured the shutters of her thoughts and locked the doors to her mind. With only her presence leading me, I followed it as I swam through the thin ribbon of water careening against the crevice walls on either side of me. When I finally sensed her high above, I swam over to the wall and secured myself with a rock handhold. 

             
I registered her essence strengthen suddenly and glanced upwards. I could just make out a slight movement on the edge up above, so I dove back into the water at my back. I’d seen her body falling toward the water in my vision, but only caught a fleeting glance of the person who pushed her. Unfortunately my visions had gotten more erratic lately, and I had trouble putting the pieces together afterwards. A flash of light caught my attention and a dark speck appeared backlit by the moon above. Stasia.

             
I hadn’t even thought about what I planned on doing once I got to this spot, considering I’d been so focused on just getting there. But now that I
was
there, I had to figure it out fast. As I examined each possibility, I felt a shift in the water. It began spinning on its own and quickly created a powerful whirlpool, and I was right in the middle of it. I darted to the side as it increased in speed and intensity. The wind suddenly picked up as well, and the cliff I held onto began to tremble.

             
I glanced up at Stasia’s body as it grew closer by the second. I dove back into the water with every intention of pushing off the bottom, and then shooting upward to intercept her body to soften her landing, but the water had its own agenda. I was sucked in no matter how much I tried to control the water, and only caught glimpses of what was happening. As if it was an upside down waterspout, the swirling water began to climb skyward. It boiled with anticipation as it gained momentum and pulled more and more water within its core.  

             
My heart stopped when I saw Stasia’s body hit the top of the swirling mass and it swallowed her whole. I fought to kick upward, but was made dizzy by the swirling current. I felt a slight falling sensation and suddenly everything went completely still. Amongst the rocks, sand and bubbles I saw a piece of white fabric and raced towards it. As I neared her, time slowed and my eyes took in the frightening scene draped in beauty before me. 

             
The ghostly folds of her dress blew around her as she sank in slow motion. The moonlight filtered through the water and danced across her gossamer hair while her eyes remained closed. The water muted all sound and she gradually drifted down to the bottom of the riverbed. She reminded me of an angel – beautiful, dangerous, and ethereal. I swam after her, cradled her in my arms and tried to wake her.

“Pasha,” I whispered in her ear. “Wake up, Pasha.”

Ever so slowly, her sparkling eyes opened and searched my face intently. After a long, silent moment, I wasn’t sure if she was actually seeing me. Her gaze appeared to settle behind me, as if she was looking through me. Finally, she took a breath of water and winced.

“It’s alright, you’re going to be alright,” I comforted her.

She didn’t speak or acknowledge me, she just simply reclosed her eyes and folded into me like a child. I held her close and kicked to the surface once more. I needed to get her back on solid ground and find Avery to see if she could help. I laid her on a nearby boulder as I lifted myself up and glanced at the huge cliff towering above me. Too bad there wasn’t an elevator or staircase to the top. That would have been ideal, considering the last time I checked, I wasn’t Spiderman.

Not a moment after I thought it, the wall trembled, groaned and began to shift above me. I stood back while jagged slabs of rock thrust out from the steep cliff. One by one, the jagged
extensions created a diagonal path all the way back to the top. Instead of questioning the why or how, I decided not to waste any time as I collected Stasia and scaled each step; climbing higher and higher. The water below rushed past and a cool breeze dried our clothes. Unfortunately, one false step and we’d both be crippled at the bottom of the river. Laying on a riverbed for days on end while my body healed itself wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, so I made sure that something solid was beneath each foot before putting all of my weight and Stasia’s on it.

The higher I got, the more I heard angry voices rising into the night air. The negative energy pulsing from their essences boiled over the precipice and over my body. I shook my head and sighed with disappointment. 

“Let go of me!” a girl screeched. It sounded like Olivia. “I have to go after her!”

“She’s immortal,” a male voice responded plainly. “She can’t die.
You
can!”

“I don’t care!” the girl cried out again. “She’s my Elysian! My responsibility!”

“Olivia, stop!” I recognized Phoebe’s voice amidst the others. “You’ll never survive the fall!”

“Be my guest,” the male approved. “Jump to your death. That’ll go a long way in helping her.”

“Stop fighting!” I heard another voice. Carmen. 

“No, stop!” Phoebe again.

Just when I reached the top, I noticed a red-faced Olivia running straight towards me in a full sprint. She saw me at the last second, but was unable to stop in time. Her inertia kept her going forward and over the cliff. I shifted Stasia in my arms, but not in time to grab her. I saw the raw fear in her dark brown eyes as her body tumbled past me and into open air. 

In a flash, the guy she was arguing with appeared beside me and caught one of Olivia’s slender arms; preventing her from falling to her death. Before I could lay Stasia down and turn around, he had already lifted a very shaky Olivia back onto solid ground. 

“Oh my God!” Carmen and Phoebe rushed to her side and helped her walk a couple feet before lowering her on the dirt and turning to Stasia’s unmoving form. Avery was already leaning over Stasia working her magic; allowing me a moment to gather my thoughts, and for my instincts to catch up with my head. I met the steely gaze of the blonde haired bastard who had tossed my Goddess off the cliff, and everything inside me screamed to rip him apart.

Without a word, I rose to my feet and strode in his direction to make sure he knew
exactly
what was coming. Surprisingly, he stood his ground and held my eyes with confidence. I wrapped a hand around his neck and lifted him from the ground with one arm. 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t throw you off this cliff,” I growled at him. I felt my darkness thicken and turn into molten rage. 

“Finn, no!” I heard Phoebe call out, but my mind was only focused on the sack of bones dangling in front of me and the irresistible urge to kill him.

“You’re Finn Morrison,” he stated with extreme calm for someone who was about to die. “Leader of the Sons.”

“And you’re about to be dead,” I threatened and walked up to the edge. 

“Wait! I made sure the water caught her! And the stairs…” he choked out. “I would never hurt her!” Caught off guard by his sudden change in demeanor, I hesitated briefly. 

“Don’t hurt him, Finn,” a voice said calmly in my ear, and I almost dropped him accidentally. Amphitrite. “Put him down.”

“You harm her again and I will end you,” I snarled at him in a low voice. “Is that clear?”

“Clear,” he nodded and struggled to swallow. I slowly swung him back around and lowered him to his feet, but the scorching anger shooting through me was still trying to convince me to kill him. It was in my DNA – I was wired to protect her. I watched him tensely as he rubbed his neck and turned to check on Olivia.

“Finn,” Amphitrite touched my arm gently. “Calm down, dear. It’s alright.”

“You’re right.
I’m
here now,” I agreed stiffly, and forced myself to concentrate on Avery as she ran her hands over Stasia again. “And if anybody so much as
looks
at her wrong, I’ll slaughter ‘em.”

Chapter 24

Olivia

             
The next morning, a mysteriously prepared breakfast awaited me on the kitchen table of my tree house. After searching the house for unwanted visitors and coming up empty, I decided to call the other girls and see if they’d woken up to something similar. Thankfully they had discovered a spread of food on their own tables as well, so I sat down to eat. It was too bad I didn’t have Sebastian here to taste the food first in case it was poisoned. As soon as I thought it, I scolded myself for ever thinking I wanted Sebastian anywhere near me. A plate full of figs, dates and grapes sat next to a soft boiled egg sitting precariously in a holder. Another small plate presented several bran muffins and some sort of brown spread that looked like honey.

             
Surprisingly hungry, I devoured everything on the table and quickly showered before meeting the other girls on my porch to head up and check on Stasia.